The Week in Pictures

Nope, that’s not the military surrounding the Decider and throwing him out of the White House at gunpoint; it’s just Dubya playing Army again, visiting Fort Irwin, California, for a photo op and a chance to shout out “Hoo-ah!” and welcome back volunteer troops who, if the trend continues, will be deployed again and again and backdoor drafted until they’re eighty, or only have one leg left, or are crippled with cancer from breathing in all the depleted uranium dust.

To get them in the mood to hunt some terrorists, Bush mentioned September 11, 2001, five — count ‘em — five times.

“This country’s life changed on September the 11th, 2001, and my attitude about the world changed that day, too…”

“But if you think about the lead-up to the attack, you think about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993…In other words, the attack on September the 11th wasn’t the first move by the extremists.”

“As a matter of fact, they conducted their acts of murder believing that there wouldn’t be a response. They became convinced that free nations were weak. And they grew bolder believing that history was on their side.”

Again, are you talking about our CIA, or are you referring to Osama bin Laden, who, if he’s still alive, must believe that history really is on his side since he hasn’t been caught yet…

“After the attacks of September the 11th I vowed to our country that we wouldn’t tire, that we would use whatever it took to protect us.”

You also vowed Saddam had WMD and the oil would pay for Halliburton’s no-bid contracts…

“And so we changed our strategy. The strategy is to defeat the enemy overseas so we don’t have to face them here at home.”

Problem is, the enemy of freedom is turning out to be in the mirror, and it’s very difficult to fight a mirror without getting broken.

“…make no mistake about it, these extremists believe things — for example, they don’t believe you can worship freely; they don’t believe you should speak your mind; they don’t believe in dissent; they don’t believe in human rights.”

I swear, I can’t tell…are you talking about the Christian Coalition, Karl Rove, or al Qaeda?

“And the way to defeat — ultimately defeat those who would do harm to America is give people a chance to live in a free society.”

Was that a veiled promise that you’re going to resign? Beggars can’t be choosers, but please, oh please, let Darth Cheney resign first! Anyway, Bush’s attempts at brainwashing continued for miles, and I can’t stomach to read anymore. He is one persistent sales pitch. You know…9/11, 9/11, 9/11, terrorists, terrorists, over there, not over here, keeping you safe, keeping you safe, freedom, liberty, freedom, liberty, free speech zones, wire taps, terrorist watch list, WMD, WMD, WMD…GOOD LORD! Shut your trap already, dude. Tell us something new once every eight years or so…

And finally, props to Geraldo for exposing Bill O’Reilly for the bigot he is, and for not backing down. It’s hard to believe one of these guys didn’t get a fist in the mouth before the commercial break: